DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM CORDER

THE NINTH INDICTMENT

The cause of Maria Martin's death could not be determined. In an endeavour to cover every possibility, Corder was indicted with nine variations of the charge of murder to avoid him escaping conviction "on a technicality". James Curtis made the comment: 'This indictment is considered as a masterly specimen of legal skill and exactitude, and will, no doubt, become a standard for future reference'. There is record of it being used by Suffolk police for the training of cadets well into the twentieth century (1)

In the event he was charged with ten counts in all:

1. By shooting her with a pistol inflicting a mortal wound in the left side of her face
2. By stabbing her with a sword on the left side of the body between the fifth and sixth ribs
3. By stabbing her with a sword on the right side of her face
4. By stabbing her on the right side of the neck
5. By putting and fastening a handkerchief about her neck, and strangling her
6. By shooting her on the left side of the face with a gun
7. By throwing her and pushing her into a hole dug into a floor of the barn, and throwing a quantity of earth upon her, thereby suffocating her
8. By throwing her into a hole and burying her
9. By stabbing her in the left side and strangling her with a handkerchief conjointly
10. By all four wounds above mentioned and by strangling her with a handkerchief and by suffocating her with earth conjointly.

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GALLERY 1: Corder and the Martin Family

Thomas Martin, a mole catcher in Polestead, was born in 1766. His daughter Maria was the oldest of three girls by his first wife, Grace. Sisters Maria and Anne were said to be very similar in appearence, and it is said that Anne sat as the model for this sketch of Maria. Thomas Henry was the son of William Corder and Maria. By the time of her murder, Thomas had married again, to Ann Holder, who was 25 years his junior.

William Corder

Maria Martin *   Thomas Henry   Thomas Martin   Anne Martin

Images from The Red Barn Murder: St Edmunds Borough Council, West Suffolk
except * Maria Marten: Red Barn Murder: Wikipedia

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GALLERY 2: Arrest, Trial and Execution

The large image is a likeness of William Corder awaiting his trial in the summer of 1828. John Wayman was the Coroner who presided over the inquest on Maria Martin at the Cock Inn, Polstead and was the attorney for the prosecution at Corder's trial. James Lea was the Constable in London who, with Constable Ayres from Polstead, arrested Corder in Brentford. John Curtis was the investigative journalist who wrote accounts for The Times and whose researches were subsequently published in a book. John Orridge was the governor and the Reverend W Stocking the chaplain of the County Gaol at Bury St Edmunds where Corder was incarcerated after his arrest and spent his last days in the condemned cell. They were said to have spent many hours with him and ultimately produced and witnessed the confession that he made and signed the night before his death. The final image is a detail from a lithograph of Corder's execution.

William Corder awaiting trial *

John Wayman   James Lea   James Curtis   Rev W Stocking   John Orridge   William Corder, hanged *

Images from The Red Barn Murder: St Edmunds Borough Council, West Suffolk
except * Corder awaiting trial: Red Barn Murder: Wikipedia

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AN EXECUTION BROADSHEET

James Catnach was one of several authors who produced broadsheets of popular events. This example (2) included accounts of the execution, a copy of Corder's confession and the words of a song attributed to William as author. It is reputed to have sold over a million copies.

From: Red Barn Murder: Wikipedia

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A CONSPIRACY THEORY

The Red Barn Mystery Donald McCormick

It is a matter of record that William Corder had a close-knit circle of acquaintances both in Polstead and in London. These included a half-Creole dancer and fortune teller with the unlikely name of Hannah Fandago who was probably William's earliest lover; Peter Matthews, the son of the Lady of Polstead Manor, who was also the father of Maria Martin's second child, Thomas Henry; Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, artist, critic, forger and poisoner and Samuel "Beauty" Smith, thief and conman.

In his 1967 book (3), Donald McCormick, analysed the relationships between these characters and the lack of evidence presented at Corder's trial. There do appear to have been several combinations of liaisons continuing between Corder, Fandango, Smith and Maria's stepmother, Ann Martin, up to the time of Maria's disappearence. Several ideas have been put forward as to why the fateful meeting in the Red Bard took place but it seems most likely that one or more of these other parties were also present, hiding at the time. He also looked at the possible causes of death, the apparent inconsistencies in the evidence and for an explanation for Ann Martin's dreams, coming as they did many months after Maria's disappearence.

In due time, both Wainewright and Smith were transported to Tasmania for forgery and theft and they were traced there by an earlier investigator, a Mrs Hampson. Their story was told upon condition that it was not revealed until at least twenty years after their deaths. It was confirmed that Smith, Hannah and Maria Martin had conspired to burgle Mrs Corder's house and she met up with William in the Red Barn on the pretext of going away to get married. A struggle ensued in which a pistol was discharged, Maria fell to the ground seriously wounded and William fled the barn. Smith (who had been hiding in the barn with Hannah) saw that she was still alive and in great pain. To silence her, Smith stabbed her to death and between them they put her body into a sack. When Corder returned he thought he had been the cause of Maria's death. The other two did not disillusion him and left him to bury the body.

It is thought that the trigger for the revelation of the dreams was the arrest and subsequent transportation of "Beauty" Smith. Ann Martin believed that Corder was responsible for Smith's arrest and the invention of the dreams became her method of revenge. "There can be no denying that Corder was guilty, but technically he may not have been the murderer." What was however probably the greatest irony in the whole case was summed up by "Beauty" Smith in Tasmania when he said "Corder had suffered a grave miscarriage of justice, but if he had escaped the gallows on a murder charge he would eventually gone to his doom on an indictment of forgery". In those days, forgery too was a capital offence.

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REFERENCES:

1. The Trial. St Edmunds Borough Council, West Suffolk
2. Confession and Execution of William Corder: James Catnach. Wikipedia Commons
3. McCormick, Donald: "The Red Barn Mystery, Some new evidence on an old murder " John Long, London (1967)

Added April 9th 2007
Updated April 14th 2007

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